From document FR 2,906,224, a container as indicated above is known, which is arranged with each of the edges shaped in the form of a groove that opens outwards and comprises a bottom which has a reversed curvature with its convexity directed outwards. However, this arrangement reflects a concern for the purely mechanical reinforcement of the edges: for applications distributed in very large numbers, such as bottled water for example, the cost of containers must be reduced to a minimum, which means that each container has the thinnest possible walls even in the edge zones; if these walls become deformed, for example when the rounded faces of the body are subjected to a force directed radially inwards (particularly when the container is grasped in the hand), the edges “break”, in other words they deform in an angular, inflexible manner and are unable to resume their original shape. But such an arrangement does not allow a container of this type to be produced, which after filling and sealing is able to withstand without any substantial deformation to an internal pressure lower than atmospheric pressure, in particular after filling with a hot liquid.
Admittedly, from document WO 2005/123517 a container is known the edges of which are in a projecting shape, each comprising a rounded wall portion flanked by two columns, in order to avoid any deformation of the edges when the container is filled with a hot liquid. However, the bulges thus formed between the rounded faces of the body do not give the container an aesthetically pleasing appearance.
It must also be noted, as regards the container known from document FR 2,906,224, that although the appearance can be considered aesthetically better than that of document WO 2005/123517, nevertheless the edge zones also have reliefs (in this case sunken) which are not always favourably received in practice.
Furthermore, for the two above-mentioned types of containers, the relatively complex shape of the body thus constituted, with its projecting or sunken reliefs in the edge zones, requires lengthy and therefore costly machining of the blow mould.
Finally, the presence of these reliefs in the edge zones makes affixing a label or similar more difficult and the latter less robust and more easily detached or torn.